I’m not a HUGE Starbucks fan. I think their drinks are good, yet highly overpriced…however, sometimes on a long stressful day, I’ll treat my self to a good Mocha or Caramel Macchiato…and for anyone who’s ever drank a starbucks hot drink, they know that on the back of the cup is something called “The Way I See It” and basically it’s a quote from someone, whether famous or not…and you know, the sentiments expressed there can really get you to thinking…at least I know it does me, and so I’m starting this new blog section, to where I’ll share not on the sentiments I found on the back of my coffee cup, but also my view on it…so, here’s the first one:

The Way I See It #208
“I wish couples who desperately take every means to conceive a child would realize that adoption is a wonderful alternative. A child who becomes your child through adoption completes a family. Just as when you commit to your spouse or partner there are no biological ties, yet a family was formed. This child enters a family the same way! It is not blood and flesh that form a family, but the heart.”— Michele JohnsonStarbucks customer from Wamego, Kansas.

Blood relatives does not always equate true family. My father for example, I would not include in my family. 99% of my childhood he was not there for…I am his flesh and blood, yet he didn’t have time. He didn’t have the heart to be a family, so therefore, I’d never consider him part of my family…Giving birth does not make you a family.

My older brother is actually my half-brother/cousin. (Sounds kind of West Virginiaish, huh?) His father is my father’s brother. I spent the majority of my childhood never knowing that…I was probably 14 or 15 before I found out…I don’t even remember how it came about, but, I know my mom told me, and we were in the kitchen, but other than that I don’t really recall how it happened, what I do remember is the way it felt….like half my heart was being ripped out…like…my life was a lie…and what else were people hiding…turns out, they only reason I didn’t know, was because my mother & grandmother loved me enough to not want me to have to deal with it, before I was ready…they didn’t want to split us a part as a family…part of me wishes they would have told me sooner, but part of me is very glad they didn’t…our childhood was rough enough, but at least we knew we had each other…I was scared things would change after I knew the truth…turns out, nothing changed…we still fought…he still held me down and tickled me so much that I almost peed my pets…he still got mad when I tried to tag along after his friends…The thing is, it doesn’t matter that he’s not biologically my 100% brother, because he is my brother. We’re not as close as I wish we were, but, we’ve never been real close…but I know he’s only a phone call a way if I need anything…and I know we’ll never really understand each other, and I may never like his girlfriend…but…you know, that’s what it’s like to be a little sister…whether or not it’s by blood or not, it really is in the heart that a family is formed.